Cousinly Conversations
by anubislover
Summary: A sequel to "The Family He's Been Looking For." Horus never wants to spend time with Anubis, so why the sudden invitation to hang out? Well, apparently when you punch the God of Evil in the face, your popularity skyrockets. Rated T for some swearing. Please Read and Review!


So, this is the sequel to "The Family He's been Looking For_._" I'd highly recommend reading that before this; otherwise you likely won't get what's going on. I rarely write sequels, so you'll have to let me know how I've done. Essentially, this is a little family moment between Horus and Anubis.

Disclaimer: I don't own _The Kane Chronicles_, which has sadly ended. I wanted more!

Cousinly Conversations

It was an odd sight for the other gods. Though he visited far more than Osiris, it was still rare to see Anubis, God of Funerals, walking the halls of the palace of the gods. It was an even rarer sight to see Horus with him. The two weren't enemies, but it was well known that the cousins were far from friends. Yet there they were, in human form, walking side-by-side in silence up and down the numerous golden corridors. It was the cause of much confusion amongst the gods.

Anubis was among them. They'd been walking in silence for almost an hour and other than a "Hello" and "Walk with me" Horus hadn't said a word to him since he'd arrived. It was beginning to get on his nerves. He'd been ready for a full day of soul judging when a messenger had arrived at the Hall of Judgment. Apparently Lord Horus requested his presence, and while his cousin wasn't the king of the gods anymore, Anubis couldn't come up with a good enough reason to refuse. The Falcon God was Lord Osiris' son, and Anubis would not risk insulting his surrogate father by ignoring his real son. He was above such pettiness. That didn't mean he had to like it, though.

Once they got to the palace gardens he decided he couldn't stand the silence any longer. "So, do you plan on telling me why I'm here, or should I assume your only real plan was to waste my time? Because if that was the plan, mission accomplished." Perhaps he'd been spending too much time with Sadie; her sharp tongue was beginning to rub off on him.

Horus, of course, was still perfectly content to get on his nerves. "What, I can't invite my cousin to come over and hang out?"

Anubis snorted softly. "When the hell have you ever wanted to "hang out?" Even before you were imprisoned we avoided each other like the plagues!"

Horus gave a wry grin. Even as children the two had never really taken to each other, what with Horus growing up determined to kill Set and Anubis spending all his time down in the Land of the Dead. "Ok, true. You were, and still are, far from my favorite person, but I still want to talk to you."

Anubis gave an irritated growl. _Arrogant prick_, he thought. "Fine. What do you want to talk about?"

"I heard you punched Set." He didn't mince words, that was for sure.

The Jackal God sputtered a bit before staring at him in disbelief. "How did you...?"

Horus laughed, dual-colored eyes twinkling in amusement. He'd forgotten just how much fun it was to mess with his cousin. "Nephthys told my mother, who told Hathor, who told Bast, so now pretty much everyone knows."

Groaning, Anubis buried his head in his hands, tugging at the ends of his hair a bit in frustration. "Great. As if things weren't bad enough." He had a sudden thought. "Is that why Bast winked at me?" The Cat Goddess had been unusually nice to him when he arrived, greeting him with a smile and even telling him that he was more tomcat than she had ever thought.

"Come on, Anubis, if anything you should be thrilled!"

"Thrilled?" Now he really did feel like pulling out his hair. "Why the hell would I be thrilled about this?"

Horus smirked. "Hey, at least no one's calling you a spineless dog anymore."

"You're the only one who ever called me that!"

"And I'm not anymore. See? No one." When that didn't seem to placate his cousin he held up his hands. "Look, I'm being serious. Everyone seems to respect you a bit more. Nobody had ever guessed you'd have the guts to deck your own father, but as soon as Nephthys confirmed the story it's all anyone has been able to talk about."

Anubis actually started to look a bit nervous. "Everyone?"

"Yup." He blinked in surprise when his paler cousin turned as white as his famous linen wrappings. "Are you ok?"

"This is bad. This is so, so bad," Anubis whispered, sitting down on a nearby bench.

He cocked an eyebrow. "How? I should be insulted; you've got a fraction of my respect, and here you are worrying over nothing."

Anubis looked up at him with those sad chocolate eyes. "You don't get it, do you?"

"Obviously not."

"My father."

Horus unconsciously glared at the mention of his uncle. "What about him?"

"How do you think he feels about this? Everyone knows he got punched by his own son. His son, who isn't a warrior, was able to get one up on him. What do you think that says about him?"

"That he's even weaker than you are," he chuckled.

Anubis ignored the insult. "Exactly. Things are already awkward between us. How do you think this development is going to affect our relationship?"

For the first time Horus paused to consider the consequences. Set was proud, quick to anger and slow to forgive at best. The whole pantheon was gossiping about how he got his red ass kicked by his weakling son. It took him a moment, but it all finally added up in Horus' brain.

"Shit."

Anubis sighed and ran his fingers through his shaggy hair. "Well put. Now do you get why I'm so freaked out? I wouldn't be surprised if he kills me just to save face."

"He wouldn't do that to his own son," he attempted to assure, but the lie sounded weak even to his own ears. After all, it wouldn't be the first time he killed a family member.

This time Anubis was the one quirking an eyebrow. "No? He only found out I'm his son a few weeks ago. Believe me, fatherly love will in no way save me."

Horus sighed and slumped down beside him. This was not what he had anticipated. The plan had been to invite Anubis over, tease him like he had when they were young, begrudgedly give him his respect and then maybe talk him into helping him beat up Set again. He hadn't expected to actually regret telling his cousin about his newfound fame. _Poor guy's probably going to be scared of his own shadow for the rest of the millennium, _he thought, shaking his head.

The two sat in silence for a bit longer before Horus spoke up again. "Set won't kill you."

"He won't?" Anubis asked, sparing a sideways glance.

"He won't. I won't let him."

They stared at each other for a moment before Anubis broke the silence. "Look, it's not that I don't appreciate the concern, but what's in it for you?"

Horus actually looked surprised. "Huh?"

"Again, we're not exactly close. I know you hate my dad and all, and this would be a good opportunity for you to get back at him—"

"Ok, now I'm just insulted! Is it so hard to believe I'm doing this to be nice? Because I care about my cousin's safety?" Anubis' dry stare was all the answer he needed. "Ok, maybe it is. I'm serious, though. Yeah, revenge did cross my mind when I called you up here, but honestly? I'd have better luck dealing with him on my own. You'd just get in the way," he joked, hoping to bring back some of the normalcy of their relationship. Their talks had never been this serious.

Anubis chuckled, tension easing out of his shoulders. "Right, because it took you how many centuries to beat him? I managed to take him down with one punch. If anything, you'd be getting in my way."

"Oh, so the mutt thinks he could do a better job fighting my mortal enemy than I could, huh?" Horus shot back, a grin slowly spreading across his lips.

The pale boy shrugged, smirking. "I put up with Sadie Kane on a regular basis. How hard could my father be?"

"Touché. I give you points for that. Honestly, how does Carter keep her in line?"

"You'd know better than I would. I've always just assumed his strategy is to just point her at the enemy and stand back. The girl has a scary temper."

"In that case I think I'm beginning to like her."

"Hands off, Horus. I already called dibs."

"You want her? You can have her. It's your funeral."

The two gods sat in comfortable silence, watching the shadows of the garden grow longer. As the sun began to set, Horus turned to Anubis. "Listen, as much as I may give you a hard time, I meant what I said; your dad gives you any trouble, you let me know."

The Jackal God smiled, chocolate eyes filled with warmth. "Thank you. I appreciate it."

"I need to get ready for tonight's journey. I'll let you know if Set seems particularly mad about the whole punching thing."

"Thanks. I'll try to come up with strategies for controlling Sadie; I figure you could pass them on to Carter if she gets out of hand."

Horus smiled appreciatively. "Much obliged. And I used to think you were the one who needed a muzzle."

"At least I didn't need to be hatched."

"Shut up, Dog-Breath."

"Make me, Bird-Brain."

With that the two parted ways, each trying, and failing, to suppress a small smile.

End

XXX

So, I finally finished _The Serpent's Shadow_, and I've had this half-done on my flashdrive for a few months, so I figured I'd finish and post this to celebrate! I know it's kind of sickeningly sweet at times, but overall I'm kind of proud of their banter. Either way, I hope you all enjoyed. Let me know what you think in a review!


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